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ISLAMABAD: Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the Trump administration has been unable to conduct the kind of disciplined, technically grounded diplomacy needed for negotiations on Iran&rsquo;s nuclear program. She was responding to a question during a recent interview on MSNBC&rsquo;s talk show Morning Joe.&nbsp; Clinton said negotiations are a slow, highly specialized process that requires officials with real expertise in nuclear weapons and verification, contrasting that with what she portrayed as the administration&rsquo;s reliance on a small inner circle to handle several major crises simultaneously. &ldquo;When I was Secretary of State, I began secret negotiations with Iran to try to reach a nuclear weapons deal to prevent it from ever having a nuclear arsenal. It was a very slow, deliberative process,&rdquo; she said. The former secretary said that the US would need to &ldquo;bring in people who actually know something about nuclear weapons.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;We had physicists and nuclear weapons practitioners at the table when our administration was negotiating the Joint Plan of Action [pact with Iran]. You need people who know something and know the history,&rdquo; she said. She was sharply critical of the administration&rsquo;s strategic judgment, saying she was stunned by reports that President Trump had not anticipated Iran could try to close the Strait of Hormuz.&nbsp; Clinton said that in the military exercises she attended while in government, closing the strait had long been seen as one of the most immediate risks in any confrontation with Tehran.&nbsp; She said she supported Trump bombing Iran&rsquo;s nuclear sites in June of last year because she thought that was an appropriate and limited strategic objective. &ldquo;[But] I opposed his incoherent attack on Iran,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp; &ldquo;I know from personal experience how Netanyahu has tried to get every American president to agree to have an open-ended war with Iran, because I had many hours-long conversations with him and his war cabinet about this and refused to go along with a very inchoate desire to do something to Iran that, you know, with no real end state,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I think you&#39;ve got to get back into hard negotiations with the right people at the table who know what they are doing. And I think you&#39;ve then got to make it very clear that we want our allies involved. We don&#39;t want to be dissing our allies because they have a big stake in this,&rdquo; she said. In her interview, Clinton urged Congress to assert its constitutional role and place limits on presidential war-making before lasting damage is done to American authority.

Middle East

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a recent interview, says the US is in a ‘very weak position’ in its dealings with Iran, arguing that Washington has lost the leverage and initiative it once possessed.

US needs technically grounded diplomacy on Iran: Hillary Clinton

ISLAMABAD: Former US President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify in the congressional investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, days before a vote on whether to hold the couple in criminal contempt for previously refusing to appear, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported.&nbsp;The House Oversight Committee had previously approved a measure to hold the Clintons in contempt, following a months-long standoff over subpoenas. The committee, led by Republicans but supported by some Democrats, said the couple had failed to cooperate despite repeated opportunities, the report said.&nbsp;The Clintons&rsquo; spokesman, Angel Ure&ntilde;a, confirmed on social media that both would appear before the panel, describing the negotiations as conducted &ldquo;in good faith.&rdquo; Ure&ntilde;a added that the former president and former secretary of state &ldquo;look forward to setting a precedent that applies to everyone.&rdquo;&nbsp;According to the BBC, the Clintons have previously submitted sworn statements to the committee and insist they have already provided all the &ldquo;limited information&rdquo; they hold regarding Epstein. They have dismissed the subpoenas as a political maneuver, saying they were &ldquo;nothing more than a ploy to attempt to embarrass political rivals.&rdquo;&nbsp;Bill Clinton, who had been acquainted with Epstein, has denied any knowledge of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/epstein-files-claim-modi-sang-and-danced-to-court-us-president" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Epstein&rsquo;s sexual abuse</a>&nbsp;and has stated that he ended contact with the financier two decades ago. Released flight logs and photos show Clinton took several international trips on Epstein&rsquo;s private jet in 2002 and 2003, and visited Epstein&rsquo;s estate, though Clinton&rsquo;s team emphasizes these interactions occurred before Epstein&rsquo;s crimes came to light.&nbsp;In a letter to Committee Chairman James Comer last month, the Clintons criticized his handling of the investigation, accusing him of prioritizing political objectives over uncovering facts. Comer responded that the subpoenas were approved through a bipartisan vote and reaffirmed that &ldquo;no one is above the law.&rdquo;&nbsp;If the depositions proceed,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/obama-clinton-say-killings-by-agents-should-be-wakeup-call-for-us" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bill Clinton</a>&nbsp;would become the first former US president to testify before a congressional panel since Gerald Ford in 1983. The dates of the testimony have not yet been disclosed.

Bill Clinton, 42nd US President, and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, 67th US Secretary of State, arrive at the Booksellers Room of the White House on the occasion of the State Dinner with the Kenyan president at the White House in Washington, DC, on May

Americas

The committee, led by Republicans but supported by some Democrats, says the couple had failed to cooperate despite repeated opportunities.

Articles tagged with "Hillary Clinton"

US needs technically grounded diplomacy on Iran: Hillary Clinton

Clintons to testify in Epstein investigation ahead of possible contempt vote